Chess on TV? St. Louis center televising championships

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Some may not see chess as a broadcast-ready sport, but St. Louis billionaire Rex Sinquefield disagrees.

Taking a cue from televised poker, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis that Sinquefield founded is taking a new step to bring attention to chess with a live-streaming broadcast complete with running commentary.

The U.S. Chess Championships started this week and run through April 14. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1ERu33q ) reports that Sinquefield had a state-of-the-art television studio installed.

Commentators will follow up to 12 matches at a time, cutting away to capture moves as they occur while filling in time with analysis of matches and playing styles.

The broadcasts are live-streamed at Chess24.com and USChessChamps.com. Organizers hope to put the matches on cable television next year.